Wildlife photography

The wildlife photography is a field of nature photography.

Topics

The wildlife photography is concerned with the recording of live animals, preferably in the natural habitat. But shooting at the zoo or aquarium will definitely add counted.

The most famous competition in the field of animal and nature photography is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Recording technique

Most wild animals are relatively shy and let the people do not get close enough to obtain satisfactory recordings with the usual amateur equipment. Some turn are also dangerous enough that you can not select a distance to protect themselves too small. When shooting in zoos fences, ditches or other circumstances are often a hindrance. The wildlife photography is therefore in many areas a domain of cameras with long to very long telephoto lenses. Exceptions are found in the underwater photography and when shooting in extreme close range.

For photography of larger lizards and mammals from a safe distance are eg in miniature cameras and medium format cameras telephoto lenses with focal lengths 135-800 mm is required. Smaller animals can be taken with normal standard lenses with focal lengths of 50 or 80 mm. For spiders, ants, beetles, worms and creatures in similar size often macro lenses are used, allow the pictures from 1:1 to 1:5 on the small picture film or 6x6 film.

For magnifications within the range of 1:10 to 10:1, for example, is a reversing ring or bellows used. For higher resolution cameras and cameras that are connected to microscopes exist.

Telephoto lenses allow recordings of shy, ...

But ... also fortified animals from a safe distance.

Underwater shooting in the aquarium succeed without diving equipment

Well-known wildlife photographers

• Frans Lanting
• Bengt Berg
• Willi Dolder
• Hans Dionys Dossenbach
• Klaus Nigge
• Fritz Pölking
• Benny Rebel
• Wolf Spillner
• Burkhard Winsmann Stone
• Magnus Pomm